Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Bill [HL]

Lord Harris of Haringey Excerpts

Report stage (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 22nd October 2018 Lords Chamber

I am not persuaded that Amendment 8 is necessary. If the revised Clause 12 were to form part of the Bill, a court would be precluded from making an overseas production order in relation to confidential journalistic material unless the requirements set out there were satisfied. It would not be necessary to say again, in Clause 5, that those requirements must be fulfilled before a judge can specify electronic data that is confidential journalistic data in an order. For that reason, I ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.

[Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)]

I may have misheard the Minister and therefore misunderstood her argument, but she seemed to be saying at one point that my noble friend’s amendments were not necessary because this is already covered under the PACE regulations. Is that the reason for resisting it—it is not necessary because it goes no further—or is she suggesting that there are elements of it which do go further that the Government are resisting? If the latter is the case, perhaps she could indicate to us what has gone further that she does not like. If it is simply that it is not necessary, can she explain why the Government are resisting it?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

I think I have already explained at length why it is not necessary. If Clause 12 were to be amended, a court would not be able to make an overseas production order in relation to confidential journalistic material unless the requirements set out there were satisfied.

[Lord Harris of Haringey]

So there is no objection to what my noble friend has tabled; the Minister is saying simply that it is not necessary?

[Baroness Williams of Trafford]

That is what I am saying, yes.